Rocket/air raid sirens in Jerusalem
We tend to be rather far removed from the war here... except for thinking about and praying for our friends, family, neighbors, etc., who are fighting in the war and/or live in the south (or the north, once again), we pretty much go on about our daily lives.
So today at lunch when I first heard a siren, I didn't think much of it. Then my co-worker asked, "Is that the rocket siren?" One of my other co-workers said she didn't think so... but the sound kept going.
We looked across at another table of co-workers, as they were looking back at us questioningly. We looked around the room, as at tables across the cafeteria, people were beginning to realize something wasn't quite right.
Someone opened a window, so we could be sure we weren't "just" hearing an ambulance. Nope, it was definitely the "something bad is happening" siren.
Since we live in Jerusalem, and we were all adults, we just assumed it was a test of some sort. I'm sure I was not the only one thinking to myself how awful, how unbelievably awful, it must be to hear that siren many times every day and know you have a mere 15 seconds to try to find shelter.
It's a terrible sound. It sounds like the movies from the 40's and 50's -- it's a wailing sound that steadily rises and lowers in pitch. It gets in your head and doesn't go away, even after the siren itself has stopped wailing.
Every day, tens of times a day, my brothers and sisters in the south hear that siren. Sometimes it's accompanied by an automated announcement screaming "Color Red! Color Red!" Often it's accompanied and/or followed by the sounds of the rockets exploding.
I heard it once -- today -- and that was more than enough for me.
When we got back to the office, my boss was explaining what happened during that time in her 12-year-old daughter's class. They were on break, and all the kids were terrified. They crawled under whatever they could find. Their teacher came out and had them run into the bomb shelter -- we have bomb shelters pretty much everywhere now, since we're under constant risk of attack. A few minutes later, only when it was clear that it was a false alarm of some sort, the teacher let the kids out of the sheltered room.
Apparently, it was some sort of "malfunction." That is, the siren system did exactly what it was supposed to do -- when a rocket was fired from Gaza in this direction, the siren went off.
Thank G-d, the rockets they have now "only" reach 30-40 miles inside Israel, instead of 80-100 miles. So the rocket was going to land somewhere between Gaza and Jerusalem, without actually reaching Jerusalem.
But please realize -- and I say this with all my heart -- please realize that if the extremism is not stopped now -- the next set of rockets WILL come from the "west bank." And they'll shoot rockets right on over eastern Jerusalem (maybe), right into my neighborhood and the neighborhoods around me, without a second thought about holy Jerusalem.
Remember -- they'rebooby trapping schools and homes now. They're purposely driving into areas crowded with civilians when they think their vehicles have been targeted by Israeli missiles. They're surrounding themselves with small children, and they're hiding in hospitals. Do you think they'll stop just because there will eventually be a "cease fire?" Really?
They are insane with passion for the G-d they believe in. I'm not saying all Gazans, all Arabs, all "Palestinians" are insane, G-d forbid -- but I am saying Hamas and even poor Fatah are insane. They have no qualms about causing civilian deaths... the murders of innocent children, whether Arab or Jew... they're not going to stop until they think they have won, or until we make them incapable of continuing.
So we need to stop them now, or those rocket and air raid sirens won't stop here in Jerusalem -- you'll be getting them wherever you are, too.
G-d bless our leaders with the abilities to make the right decisions. G-d bless our soldiers who continue to fight, and our soldiers who are out of combat because of their injuries. G-d bless all the civilians -- the real civilians on both sides -- who just want to have normal lives. Amen.
So today at lunch when I first heard a siren, I didn't think much of it. Then my co-worker asked, "Is that the rocket siren?" One of my other co-workers said she didn't think so... but the sound kept going.
We looked across at another table of co-workers, as they were looking back at us questioningly. We looked around the room, as at tables across the cafeteria, people were beginning to realize something wasn't quite right.
Someone opened a window, so we could be sure we weren't "just" hearing an ambulance. Nope, it was definitely the "something bad is happening" siren.
Since we live in Jerusalem, and we were all adults, we just assumed it was a test of some sort. I'm sure I was not the only one thinking to myself how awful, how unbelievably awful, it must be to hear that siren many times every day and know you have a mere 15 seconds to try to find shelter.
It's a terrible sound. It sounds like the movies from the 40's and 50's -- it's a wailing sound that steadily rises and lowers in pitch. It gets in your head and doesn't go away, even after the siren itself has stopped wailing.
Every day, tens of times a day, my brothers and sisters in the south hear that siren. Sometimes it's accompanied by an automated announcement screaming "Color Red! Color Red!" Often it's accompanied and/or followed by the sounds of the rockets exploding.
I heard it once -- today -- and that was more than enough for me.
When we got back to the office, my boss was explaining what happened during that time in her 12-year-old daughter's class. They were on break, and all the kids were terrified. They crawled under whatever they could find. Their teacher came out and had them run into the bomb shelter -- we have bomb shelters pretty much everywhere now, since we're under constant risk of attack. A few minutes later, only when it was clear that it was a false alarm of some sort, the teacher let the kids out of the sheltered room.
Apparently, it was some sort of "malfunction." That is, the siren system did exactly what it was supposed to do -- when a rocket was fired from Gaza in this direction, the siren went off.
Thank G-d, the rockets they have now "only" reach 30-40 miles inside Israel, instead of 80-100 miles. So the rocket was going to land somewhere between Gaza and Jerusalem, without actually reaching Jerusalem.
But please realize -- and I say this with all my heart -- please realize that if the extremism is not stopped now -- the next set of rockets WILL come from the "west bank." And they'll shoot rockets right on over eastern Jerusalem (maybe), right into my neighborhood and the neighborhoods around me, without a second thought about holy Jerusalem.
Remember -- they'rebooby trapping schools and homes now. They're purposely driving into areas crowded with civilians when they think their vehicles have been targeted by Israeli missiles. They're surrounding themselves with small children, and they're hiding in hospitals. Do you think they'll stop just because there will eventually be a "cease fire?" Really?
They are insane with passion for the G-d they believe in. I'm not saying all Gazans, all Arabs, all "Palestinians" are insane, G-d forbid -- but I am saying Hamas and even poor Fatah are insane. They have no qualms about causing civilian deaths... the murders of innocent children, whether Arab or Jew... they're not going to stop until they think they have won, or until we make them incapable of continuing.
So we need to stop them now, or those rocket and air raid sirens won't stop here in Jerusalem -- you'll be getting them wherever you are, too.
G-d bless our leaders with the abilities to make the right decisions. G-d bless our soldiers who continue to fight, and our soldiers who are out of combat because of their injuries. G-d bless all the civilians -- the real civilians on both sides -- who just want to have normal lives. Amen.
posted by M at 22:30
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